AFDB supports CIB with $148 mn to prop up SMEs and trade

African Development Bank provided a total financing of $148 mn to Commercial International Bank (CIB) in Egypt, distributing $10 mn in a 10-year credit line, $90 mn as a 10-year subordinated loan, $32 mn in a 3.5-year trade finance credit line, and $16 mn in a 3.5-year trade finance credit line from the growing African Growing Together Fund (AGTF).

The financial package to CIB comes amid a shortage of foreign currency in Egypt due to complex endogenous and exogenous macro-economic and geopolitical factors, including persistent supply bottlenecks due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

The financial package will enable CIB to meet the foreign currency needs of its clients in various sectors of the Egyptian economy.

The financial package will:

-Provide CIB with long-term resources for onward lending to businesses.

-Strengthen CIB’s capital position.

-Enable CIB to meet the trade finance needs of its clients.

The primary beneficiaries of the financial package will be small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and corporates operating in key sectors of the Egyptian economy.

This funding will contribute to mobilising significant resources for key economic sectors in Egypt, ultimately enhancing productive capacity and stimulating growth. This will increase economic output, improve the country’s competitiveness, generate fiscal and export revenues and create much-needed employment opportunities, particularly for women.